Bhubaneswar, Dec 31: Odisha Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Monday said the state government will provide adequate compensation to the farmers for the damages caused to crops by the recent untimely rainfall in the state.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Monday, Pujari said that the damages assessment reports from affected districts are expected to be received on Monday.

He said that all the affected farmers including those engaged in vegetables, groundnut and cotton crops farming, who are not insured under the PMFBY, will be provided with assistance as per the existing procedures.

The Revenue Minister also stated that massive damages were caused by the low pressure -induced untimely rainfall that occurred in two phases in the state recently. The state government as well as the district administration have been vigilant since the untimely rainfall started in various parts of the state.

"Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and I visited three districts - Nayagarh, Gajapati and Ganjam - and undertook ground zero assessment of the damages caused by unseasonal rainfall. Both the Deputy CMs and other ministers also toured the affected areas and reviewed the situation. They will also present their report on damages later today. We observed during the visit that not only paddy crops but vegetables, cotton and groundnut crops were also damaged in the untimely rainfall,” said Pujari.

Suresh Pujari revealed that the government is studying all the aspects to bring untimely rainfall under the purview of natural disasters, which will be helpful whenever such a situation arises in the future.

Pujari also took a dig at the previous BJD government for not taking any step on the issue during their rule. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare

The Revenue Minister further added that around 2 lakh paddy farmers have so far reported about the damages at right platform to avail compensation under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

The farmers under the PMFBY are required to report about the losses within72 hours of the damage. However, there are several farmers who are yet to report the damages.

Meanwhile, the Central government has extended the last date for reporting the damages under PMFBY till January 1, 2025 in place of the earlier date of December 29.

As per a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s office, following the instructions of the CM Mahi, the state government had earlier requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare to extend the last date. It further added that the central government keeping in view the interests of farmers has extended the last date for three more days.

CM Majhi on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for being empathetic towards the farmers of Odisha.

The Chief Minister in his statement asserted that all the farmers including those not insured under the PMFBY will be provided with the compensation for the damages caused by the unseasonal rainfall.

As per reports, the ministers level committee will hold discussions over the damages and compensation amount during a meeting on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday visited various places in his home district of Ganjam to assess the loss of crops due to the untimely rainfall that occurred at several places in the state recently.

Patnaik first went to Takarada gram panchayat in Sheragada block to review the damages to crops. He later also visited Gobindpur of the same block, Podingi village of Hinjili block, Baragaon of Aska block, Ambasikharpur of Kabisuryanagar block and Bharasagaon of Khallikote block to assess the situation on the ground.

BJD sources claimed that farmers during discussions with Patnaik alleged that government officials have not yet visited their areas for assessment of the damages caused by the untimely rainfall.

They also accused that had the state government alerted them ahead of the impending unseasonal rainfall, the losses could have been averted.

"I have been looking at the crop damage which is very bad. The farmers must be compensated very quickly as they were in the time of my government," said Patnaik.

The veteran leader is likely to visit four more coastal districts including Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Cuttack to review the crop losses and hold discussion with the farmers.

--IANS

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